Akamai Technologies employee accused of corporate espionage
Gautham Nagesh - 10/07/10 12:33 PM ET
An employee of Akamai Technologies was arrested by the FBI and charged Wednesday for, authorities allege, providing confidential business information to a person he believed was an agent of a foreign government.
Elliot Doxer, 42, was charged with one count of wire fraud for allegedly sending an e-mail to a foreign consulate in Boston on June 22, 2006, stating he was willing to provide any confidential information he had access to in order to help that country. If convicted he could face a $250,000 fine and up to 20 years in prison.
“I am a Jewish American who lives in Boston,’’ authorities allege he wrote. “I know you are always looking for information and I am offering the little I may have.’’
The unnamed foreign government reportedly cooperated with U.S. authorities in the investigation. Authorites allege Doxer said his motivation "was to help our homeland and war against our enemies." He also allegedly referenced Akamai's business transactions with "some Arab companies from Dubai" and asked for $3,000 to compensate him for the risks he was taking.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Boston alleges an undercover federal agent posing as a representative of the foreign government spoke to Doxer and arranged a drop location which Doxer visited at least 62 times to either leave confidential business information or check for return communications.
Among the items Doxer is accused of providing the undercover agent is an extensive list of Akamai's customers, contracts between the firms and various customers with pricing and service information and a comprehensive list of Akamai's employees including their contact information. Doxer also allegedly described the company's physical and cybersecurity systems.
An Akamai spokesman told the Wall Street Journal the company fully cooperated with the FBI's investigation and said there was no evidence any of the information referenced in the complaint had reached anyone outside of federal law enforcement.